Michelle and Erik met in May of 2018 after randomly being set up by Michelle's sister Allison. They had their first date at Wood n Tap followed by coffee across the street at Dunkin' Donuts. There were instant sparks and they ended up talking for hours. Both Erik and Michelle knew this was something special from the beginning and they made it official June 26th of 2018. Things were going well and by December of that year Erik traveled home to Minnesota for Christmas and brought Michelle with him. Then just a few months later in May of 2019 Michelle graduated from UConn and the couple moved into an apartment together in Southington. That first year of living together included a new job for Michelle at UConn Health, traveling to Minnesota again, holidays, and many nights staying in watching Netflix. 2020 began with the search for a house and on April 28th Michelle and Erik closed on their first home. As if buying a home wasn't exciting enough Erik, with the help of Michelle's sister and mother, secretly planned an engagement. On May 1st 2020 Erik proposed on the back deck of their new home and Michelle said YES!